E232: Tim Page on his Pulitzer Prize + Judee Sill + Stephin Merritt

In this episode we're joined by special guest Tim Page to trace the arc of his career from reviewing James Chance & the Contortions to winning the Pulitzer Prize.

In a conversation that's as entertaining as it is erudite, Tim recalls his teenage discovery of Rolling Stone and the subsequent influence of rock criticism on his singular brand of classical music reviewing. After touching on the 1967 documentary A Day with Timmy Page, we hear about his journey as a critic from New York Rocker to the Washington Postvia the New York Times.

With reference to the 2002 collection Tim Page on Music, our guest reflects on his affection for Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas and Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields. Merritt and his electro-pop offshoot Future Bible Heroes are then heard in clips from an audio interview by the late Andy Gill. From there we turn to another of Tim's great passions – the tragic and long-neglected Judee Sill – and pay collective tribute to what he calls her "extraordinary gifts".

After William quotes from newly-added library interviews with Janis Joplin (1970) and Ozzy Osbourne (2001), Jasper talks us out with his thoughts on pieces about country singer Tom T. Hall (1973) and Dallas Austin's Highland Place Mobsters (2014).

Many thanks to special guest Tim Page.

Pieces discussed: The Contortions + James White & the Blacks, Minimalism: Hey, DJ, The Everlasting Forever Of Arthur Lee, Future Bible Heroes audio (2002), Judee Sill: Lunch And Judee, Judee Sill: Heart Food, Judee Sill: A Brief Life, an Enduring Musical Impression, Miss Janis — Texas White Queen Of Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom T. Hall and Make It Funky: The Rise & Fall of the Highland Place Mobsters.